ski holiday – Alpine Elements Communityhttp://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community
News and Useful Articles BlogMon, 21 Nov 2016 10:18:09 +0000en-GBhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.5Resort Images of the Monthhttp://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/resort-images-of-the-month/
http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/resort-images-of-the-month/#respondMon, 11 Apr 2016 10:43:25 +0000http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/?p=4937We have been blessed with fantastic conditions this March and April, with regular snowfall and low temperatures. Skiing across all our resorts have been brilliant and our hard working team have been taking some pictures to show off how great it really has been. Here is a selection of some of the best images taken over the past month…

Waking up in St Anton and looking out the window you could only describe it as a skier/boarders dream. After the half-metre of snow dumping that gave the mountain a nice fluffy blanket the previous day, today you could only see the contrasting colours of the deep blue sky and the perfectly white snow which was reflecting the warming rays of the sun high in the sky.

As we rushed to gather our stuff in the apartment, eager to get out and bursting out of the door, the first thing that hits you is the smell and feeling of the crisp freshness of that mountain air, followed by the warming rays on your face. We even got a taxi into the centre of St Anton as we didn’t want to waste any time hanging around for buses!

We arrived at the Gampen chair lift to venture up our first run and you can just sense everyone around you is feeling the same excitement, happiness and just in awe of the spectacular views that the St Anton Arlberg Mountains offer. Going up on the chairlift, everyone is obviously happier as people are actually talking to each other on the way up regardless if they know each other or not, only small talk but just sharing the appreciation of what a beautiful day it is.

We arrive at the top of the chairlift and to me and my friends’ surprise, there is hardly anyone on the slopes – there are no queues to have the frustrating waits in, the slopes look wide and free and we can hardly believe how much room we have for shredding up the mountain.

Our morning consisted of just warming our legs up on the wide open blues and easier red runs around Gampen and Kapall. Even on the piste, the snow is so fluffly my skis just float over the snow and every turn I make I am engulfed in a flurry of snow kicking up into a cloud. There’s even little moguls to practise a few jumps and 180s without the worry of falling and hurting yourself, as if you did (which is never!) you would just fall onto the softest of blankets of snow. The only worry is it’s going to be cold!

We hit the runs: Blue 36, Red 37 and Red 21 with only a few stops for a beer in the snow just off the side of the piste; making ourselves comfy sitting on our boards and skis. We even stopped in the Gampen Restaurant for some food, which is your typical Austrian ski lodge restaurant with all your Austrian favorites. We only had pomme frites though and a cold chilled beer to wash it down with.

Later on in the afternoon, we went up Rendlbahn to meet the rest of the team at Rendl beach. In the lift you can just see the untouched areas of Rendl, and now that our legs are warmed up having the thoughts of hitting all those untouched areas. The views are stunning at Rendl beach, looking out and just seeing the vast size of the Arlberg Mountains, all the trees still have their white coats on and the sun is even higher and hotter in the middle of the clear sky. We simply had to sit in the deck chairs with another beer chilling out, relaxing and just taking in the great atmosphere with all the people around listing to music and trying to catch their goggle tans, whilst the rest of the team come meet us.

After that, we put our skis back on and headed to Rendl fun park to get the park rat feeling inside me out. We weren’t brave enough to hit the pro kickers so just stuck to the intermediate ones but still got some massive air and still practicing those 180s off the boxes. At the end of Rendl fun park is a button lift that everyone detests, but we had a better plan! If you carry on down the mountain you come to a great off piste area that leads you down onto the Maass Lift. This is where the snow gets deep, even hip height! So throwing in the turns down the slope the snow kicks up so much I can barely see through my sunglasses. We come to the Maass Lift covered in snow from top to bottom with the biggest smiles on our faces as it was so AWESOME!

We then carry on up to the highest point in Rendll – the Riffel 2 Lift, only to find the best off piste skiing I’ve ever done. I’ve done four seasons to date and I kid you not, the conditions were fantastic. It was a dream gliding through the snow and not one person was there just me and my two friends with all this snow to ourselves – it seemed to go on forever. We had to stop a few times as going through all this snow was hard going on our legs. But with that, when we did stop we would simply flop over with our arms extended and just plop into the snow and have a quick rest. When we did finally meet back on the piste at the bottom, we were all ready to call it a day of skiing. So we followed the R1 run down to the bottom, headed back to the Galzig Lift and headed to Taps for some Apres fun.

This was simply the best day of skiing I’ve ever had. Great snow, the sun was out without a cloud in the sky. Great ski area, on and off piste and great company with my friends. It was the perfect day in what I think is the best ski resort in the world. St Anton – I salute you!

]]>http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/a-day-in-st-anton/feed/0Daisy’s Ski Season Diary – 26th January 2016http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/daisys-ski-season-blog-26th-january/
http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/daisys-ski-season-blog-26th-january/#respondTue, 26 Jan 2016 12:33:30 +0000http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/?p=4774Daisy is our chalet staff trainer. Living in the French Alps means she can give us an inside view into what is happening in resort right now and what life is like working on a ski season. Here is her write up from the past week:

“It’s been another incredible week in the PDS especially because it’s just been snow, snow and even more snow all week long, which has made for some pretty impressive powder days up on the mountain and the off piste has been on point. My favourite run this week being poo trees (formerly known as Star Wars) which you can find just at the top left of the Chapelle park drag lift in Avoriaz and it is truly magnificent – especially when Ash (our Hotel Renardiere’s bar man) got a little too cocky with his jumping and flew straight into a tree… He’s absolutely fine of course which is why it was ok that I laughed as hard as I did! The powder also introduced a new activity for me this season (I’ve clearly not been a cool enough snowboarder to take part before) when I was invited to build a kicker on the off piste by the Chaux Fleurie lift – needless to say I’m definitely not good enough to jump it because it’s enormous but the landing will be beautifully soft and fluffy!

In other ski related news the dumping of snow has meant that stash in Avoriaz is perfect to start hitting those boxes and picnic benches which I definitely need more practice on! Finally as a snowboarder I feel it’s headline worthy news to mentions that I did a run down to the ardent bubble from the top of prolays wearing skis AND I didn’t fall over after 5 years of not skiing! – very proud!

Wednesday night brought another incredible night of Happy Hours Apres at the bottom of the ardent bubble – safe to say the scary cocktails certainly are what they say on the tin! In other apres related shenanigans the ridge hotel began its ski boot challenge this week with the arrival of a stag group! The challenge consists of downing a pint from a ski boot and then strapping into it as quickly as you can to make your way onto the Ridge Hotel leader board!

Of course being a chalet staff trainer it means I get to sample a large amount of cakes baked by our fabulous hosts – I may be getting a bit patisserie shaped and the muffin tops are surely growing but it’s worth it for the incredible carrot cake I sampled the other day at Chalet Nyon – Nicola and Sarah deserve an enormous round of applause and I pray you get the chance to sample it – Mary Berry would be proud! I also sampled a cheeky chocolate brownie in the Hotel Renardiere this week which was out of this world and the perfect end to a day of intense snowboarding – thank you Nathan for the chocolate heaven!

Finally I would like to welcome our brand new chalet host Hermione Wilson who will be continuing her season in chalet Well with Dan Green and has been of to a cracking start so far!”

]]>http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/daisys-ski-season-blog-26th-january/feed/0Taking the piste is back for 2016!http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/taking-the-piste-is-back-for-2016/
http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/taking-the-piste-is-back-for-2016/#respondMon, 11 Jan 2016 12:45:43 +0000http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/?p=4721The brilliant Taking the piste comedy tour is back for this season!

If you’re in the Tignes area on the 15th January then come to our Hotel Le Pramecou in Tignes for a night of fantastic comedy and fun!

]]>http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/taking-the-piste-is-back-for-2016/feed/0Five tips for snow park first timershttp://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/five-tips-for-snow-park-first-timers/
http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/five-tips-for-snow-park-first-timers/#respondThu, 07 Jan 2016 15:33:58 +0000http://www.alpineelements.co.uk/community/?p=4639It doesn’t matter if you ski or snowboard, the first time in a snow park is as daunting as it is exciting. The below tips will help you avoid both injury and getting on the wrong side of the local parkrats.

Know your ability

If you are still falling your way down the mountain it is too soon to start hitting the park. At the very least you want to be confidently linking turns down a red run, plus happy and in control when getting a bit of air.

Even then you should start with the smallest and easiest feature. You don’t learn to ski on a black run so don’t start your park experience in the half pipe. Most snowparks are split into blue, red and black features – start with the easiest.

Stop. Look around

Whenever you enter a snowpark stop and look around. Are their groups of people waiting to hit certain jumps or rails? Better skiers and snowboarders will start from higher to carry more pace into features so be sure to look up slope.

In many places if someone is about to ‘drop in’ they’ll signal by holding their arm up. So stand still and wait your turn, this will stop you getting in someone else’s way, and give you a chance to observe others.

Observe others

Waiting your turn means you will watch others hit features before you have a go. Not only can you look on in awe as they do a sweet trick, but you can see how much speed they take into the feature and how far they jump.

Go too slow and you won’t make it up the ramp, go to fast and the consequences can be rather painful. Keep an eye on where other people point straight from and how much air they get. You can then adjust your speed according to your ability. The first time over any feature go slow.

Leave a gap

Never follow closely behind another skier or snowboarder in a snowpark. If they fall you will crash into them and fall yourself. Instead wait for them to clear the landing area before setting off, if there are a sequence of features wait until they clear the landing of the last one, as once you get started you’ll be unable to tell if they fell.

Protection

By playing in the park your risk of injury increases. Rails and boxes are hard, and landing a jump on anything but your skis or board hurts. Don’t be fooled by videos of the pros going huge in t-shirt and a beanie, these guys are professionals and will often have done their learning wearing protection.

Most important is to protect is your head, so invest in a helmet. If you are a snowboarder then wrist guards are a good idea as it’s the most common injury. If you are starting to go big then back protector and crash pants are also a good idea.

Hopefully the above tips will make your first trip to the snowpark safer and less daunting. Even if you are never going to be a parkrat, the odd run through a park is well worth it, not only is it fun but your skiing or snowboarding will improve.

Still looking for a last minute ski holiday?

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